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- Title
Measurements of nasal mucus cAMP and cGMP provide biochemical standards for diagnosis of human smell loss.
- Authors
Henkin, Robert I.; Velicu, Irina
- Abstract
We previously demonstrated that nasal mucus cAMP and cGMP were decreased in patients with smell loss compared to normals. To define these changes more specifically we compared nasal mucus cAMP and cGMP with severity of smell loss in 272 patients with a variety of etiologies. By use of quantitative psychophysical tests of olfaction (three stimuli forced choice staircase sniff tests using four odors) we categorized smell loss into four types based upon loss severity: Type III hyposmia > Type II hyposmia > Type I hyposmia > anosmia, from least severe (Type III hyposmia) to most severe (anosmia) smell loss. Using this categorization nasal mucus cAMP and cGMP were independently measured and assigned to these categories, cAMP levels decreased progressively as smell loss worsened [Type II hyposmia > Type I hyposmia > anosmia 0.16±0.01 pmol/ml (mean±SEM) > 0.12±0.02 > 0.004, respectively] as did cGMP [Type III hyposmia > Type II hyposmia > Type I hyposmia > anosmia (0.25±0.16 > 0.24±0.01 > 0.23±0.03 > 0.18, respectively]. These results are the first to define quantitatively biochemical changes associated with functional changes in smell loss. These results suggest that both cAMP and cGMP contribute to smell function by playing roles as growth factors in olfactory epithelial stem cell maturation. These results not only verify the biological importance of nasal mucus cyclic nucleotides as diagnostic biochemical tests of smell loss but also the functional relevance of these classifications of smell loss. These latter results demonstrate that psychophysical measurements of smell loss can be used to categorize patients with smell loss according to their specific biochemical pathology.
- Subjects
NASAL mucosa; CYCLIC guanylic acid; SMELL disorders; SMELL; EPITHELIAL cells
- Publication
FASEB Journal, 2007, Vol 21, Issue 6, pA1147
- ISSN
0892-6638
- Publication type
Article